At this year's Comic Con 2010 San Diego, Bandai Entertainment (North America Div.) announced that they licensed the Turn A Gundam series for US release! Good news for us collectors.

From AnimeNewsNetwork: "The North American anime distributor Bandai Entertainment has announced at its Comic-Con International panel on Thursday that it acquired the license to the Tales of the Abyss and Turn A Gundam television anime series. Tales of the Abyss is a 26-episode anime adaptation of the popular Namco Bandai role-playing game of the same name. Turn A Gundam is the 1999 television anime series written and directed by Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino for Gundam's 20th anniversary. The series also features music by Yoko Kanno and mechanical designs by Blade Runner's Syd Mead."

Tommorrow will be the offical opening date for both the RG 1:1 RX-78-2 Gundam, as well as the Shizouka Hobby Fair at Shizouka. Display period will be from July 24th 2010 - January 10th, 2011 (Although the promotional above for the Shizouka Hobby Fair is said to be open from July 24th - March 27th)

(Introductory Video)

(Opening Ceremony Video)

The RG 1:1 RX-78-2 Gundam will be located at a plaza east of Shizouka JR Station.

The Shizouka Hobby Fair will include a variety of programs on this stage.

Another exciting thing to note is the Shizouka Hobby Fair, which folks can go in for an admission fee (Adult: 600 Yen, Preschool & under 200 Yen)

A smaller version of the Gundam Cafe will be there to sell all the yummy food.

This is the best place for fans to get their hands on various limited issue items such as the HG 1 / 144 RX-78-2 Gundam Ver.G30th RG 1/1 Gundam Project, SD RX-78-2 Gundam Ver.G30th RG 1/1 Gundam Project. I heard that both the MG 1/100 MG Musha Mk-II Tokugawa Ieyasu Ver. & the SD BB Warrior Tokugawa Ieyasu Ver. will also be on hand for sale.

This item will be a Premium Bandai product limited release to commemorate the Gunpla 30th Anniversary.

Preorder: Taken between @ p-bandai.jp (July 23 - August 27, 2010)

Ship Date: Sept. 2010

From Wikipedia: "Tokugawa Ieyasu (徳川 家康?, January 31, 1543 – June 1, 1616) was the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan which ruled from the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Ieyasu seized power in 1600, received appointment as shogun in 1603, abdicated from office in 1605, but remained in power until his death in 1616. His given name is sometimes spelled Iyeyasu, according to the historical pronunciation of we. Ieyasu was posthumously enshrined at Nikkō Tōshō-gū with the name Tōshō Daigongen (東照大権現?)."